I will preface this review by saying I don’t mind this little tune at all. For my #41 ranked song, it remains inoffensive, and has a certain charm to it that will endear fans. Tom Leeb has a beautiful voice- smooth, light and emotive- and he’s very easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more going for this song. The first minute is by far the best- it’s stripped back instrumentally with a soft, atmospheric introduction and beautiful French lyrics. The chorus, whilst cheesy, has a sweet little hook and takes us back to the classic Eurovision ballads of the 20th century. Then the song decides not to capitalise on any of this and just layers up the song instrumentally without giving it any musical development. We have no real growth or movement, the song feels predictable, the whole thing starts to drag and by the 100th time I hear the phrase “You are, you are, you are the best in me”, any meaning has been utterly lost as I wish to never hear those words again. I will concede that the revamp has improved this song- the acoustic version places Tom centre stage, and the vulnerability this creates matches the heartfelt mood of the song well. However, the only time the song really means anything in my eyes is when I pretend that Tom is singing it directly to me under the Eiffel Tower on a romantic night in Paris. On its own, it’s unfortunately too weak to have any lasting impact, and the painfully basic instrumental and structure just makes the whole piece feel dated and bland. It’s a shame.
Prediction for how this would have done had ESC 2020 gone ahead: obviously, with France being one of the big 5 automatic qualifiers, this would be in the final by default (thankfully, as it would easily have failed to qualify from the semi finals). I fear the juries would shy away from awarding France many points owing to the song’s dated blandness, and it would struggle to win televoters over. There are ballads in this show with huge potential and pull, and France would unfortunately have been lost in the crowd.
Anyway, this is one girl’s opinion. I’d love to know what you think! Dated ditty or charming throwback to the good old days of fastfood-free Eurovision? Let me know with a comment.
SCORE: 5/10
RANKING 41/41
The Euro-Vine 